Product schema that validates cleanly in schema.org's tool often fails Google's Merchant Listings requirements. Free Listings, Shopping ads, and the new AI Shopping answers all pull from a stricter subset that demands specific sub-objects.
Merchant Listings Audit fetches any product URL, pulls every Product JSON-LD object from the page, and checks the 17 Merchant-specific properties in one pass.
The properties that aren't obvious
shippingDetails. Required for physical goods. Must be an OfferShippingDetails object with shippingRate, shippingDestination (with addressCountry), and deliveryTime. A price-only offer without shippingDetails is ineligible for Free Listings.
hasMerchantReturnPolicy. Also required for physical goods. Must include applicableCountry, returnPolicyCategory, and merchantReturnDays where applicable. Google's 2026 enforcement update means missing return policy = listing hidden in most markets.
energyEfficiencyCategory (EU, 2026). Required for covered categories (electronics, appliances, light bulbs) for EU listings starting March 2026. Missing = delisted in DE/FR/IT/ES.
pricePerUnit. Required for many EU product categories. Absent = delisted.
Global identifier (gtin / mpn / isbn / productID). At least one is required for branded products. Google uses these to match your listing against its catalog, classify it, and surface competitive listings alongside yours.
itemCondition. NewCondition / UsedCondition / RefurbishedCondition. Missing = treated as unknown and ranked lower.
The strictly-optional-but-strongly-recommended set
aggregateRating and review. These don't make or break listing eligibility, but every competitor with them ranks above every competitor without. If you sell anything reviewable, you need to capture and emit reviews.
How the audit helps
The tool parses your page's Product JSON-LD, checks every one of the 17 properties, and for each missing or malformed field, generates an AI fix prompt that emits a corrected JSON-LD block with bracketed placeholders you fill in with real values. Copy, paste, replace the current schema, ship.
Related reading
- Schema Validator — generic JSON-LD validator
- Schema Fix Bundle — emits complete Product schema from inputs
- E-E-A-T Audit — authorship / org schema for broader trust signal
Fact-check notes and sources
- Google Product structured data: developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/product
- Merchant Listing markup: developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/merchant-listing
- EU energy labelling regulation 2023/2333: eur-lex.europa.eu
- Schema.org Product: schema.org/Product
The $20 Dollar Agency covers building Shopping Graph compliance into every e-commerce client audit. The tool is the pre-ship check.
